I'm not ready . . .

-sigh- I'm old. My baby is growing up quickly. Although I have to say that a lot of the things that little kids are doing now were unheard of when I was that age. I guess I've finally turned into that "when I was your age" type of person. I'm freaking out. My daughter, age 10, has been invited to a hotel party this weekend. I. Am. Not. Kidding.
The girl having the party is one of Brianna's bestfriendsinthewholewideworldforever (yes, that's one word because they pronounce it in a single breath). You know how that goes. Brianna was very excited when she got the invitation. Then I read it. I fainted, my eyes popped out cartoon style, then I quickly recovered and smiled at Brianna. I must have rapidly blinked about a million times to make sure that I was reading correctly. A hotel party? For 10 year olds? What kind of joke was this?
Once Brianna was in her room later, I called the mom giving the party. I immediately felt better because she went on to explain that her daughter has practically been begging for a slumber party at a hotel because of some show or movie that she saw. The mom finally gave in with certain rules. There are only going to be four girls (including the birthday girl) and the mom and grandmother are going to be with them at all times. I could tell she was struggling with whether or not this was age appropriate. She seemed to apologizing at the same time as explaining that this was her daughter's biggest wish, basically. The girls are going to be swimming and watching movies and basically just hanging out like they always do.

Another thing . . . . . I recently ran into another mom from school who asked me if Brianna and -boy's name- were still dating. WHAT? Dating? They're 10! I sort of laughed and she told me that her son (who is a the same group of friends) and other kids say that Brianna and -boy's name- are dating AND Brianna and -boy's name- know that their friends say that and are fine with it. Now, I don't know what dating as a 10 year old entails but from what I can gather, it's saying that you are, walking together and talking on the phone. In which case, yes, I suppose they are. I told Rodrigo and he sort of laughed and said that they should have lunch dates and -boy's name- should put Brianna's lunch on his tab. Bwah, ha, ha! Again, -boy's name's- parents have been fabulous. Both his mom and dad called, asked permission for their son to be able to call and email Brianna and let me know that I could call them about any concerns. I thanked them and asked them to do the same. His mom even made Brianna a pair of earrings for -boy's name- to give her as an end of year gift this past May. (Brianna and hotel party girl spent much of that afternoon giggling in Brianna room looking at the earrings and talking about -boy's name- and other crushes)

Doesn't this all sound like the kind of stuff we did in middle school and high school? By the conversations I've had with these two sets of parents and others, we all really feel that same way. It's just the kids are really more advanced than we were. I think we all feel like we have to have open communication with them rather than not allow them to do stuff. We all know what happens when we're forbidden to do things. -sigh- Isn't this all too fast? Am I being old fashioned? Tell me something to make me feel better.

feeling: like a bitter old lady
listening to: Phoenix (1901)

Gwalgreenz

I just noticed that I never told you all about my recent visit to Walgreen's. Here is exactly what I posted on yelp . . . .

There's really no point in reviewing a Walgreen's other than the fact that I HAVE to tell you this story . . . .
So, I'm paying at Walgreen's and there's a sign at the register stating something like "if we don't offer you the special, you get a free water bottle". Something like that. Here I have to say that I know that it is completely trivial of me, but I love seeing signs like that. I don't care about the $1 water that I could win, I just like seeing if the employees actually do it, and well, I like to win something . . . anything. Anyway, the person before me was offered Orbitz gum or something else that were each 2 for $1 and told that that was the special. He said no. My turn. The cashier says hi, I say hi and she proceeds to scan my purchases. No offer of gum or anything else. I'm about to leave but I stop and ask if that sign was still valid.

her: uh, no
me: no?
her: well, yes but no
me: yes? no?
her: yeah, I guess
so: so, I get the free water?
her: I suppose you do. It's just sometimes it doesn't count
me: I'm sorry?
her: I didn't think you spoke English
me: Excuse me?!?!?
her: I didn't think you'd understand, so I didn't offer
me: so that sign is conditional? it only applies to certain people?
her: let me get your water
me: no thank you. I don't need your free water

I left there confused. Why would she assume I didn't speak English? I hadn't talked to anyone and even if I had, it would have been in English. Even if I didn't speak English, no free water unless I did? WTF? I should've just kept my mouth shut about that water because now I'm going to feel weird going there and I go there a lot. I'll only go now wearing a "Yo hablo Eenglich" shirt or something.


Mmm, hmm. I've been there since too but avoid her like the plague, or uh, swine flu.

feeling: dreading the heat this afternoon
listening to: Incubus (Black Heart Inertia)

that elusive sponge

After weeks of begging Brianna to please, please, please tell me what she wanted to be for Halloween, she finally decided. This is the first time she's actually going to wear a costume I make for her and I'm super excited! Every year I want to make her costume and every year she'd rather me just buy her one. This year, I showed her about 75 million homemade costumes and she chose a pink poodle. I was tres happy and started getting the things we need to make it. Everything seemed simple enough. We'd need some pink leggings, a pink turtleneck, a pair of pink socks, bubble wrap, and eight pink mesh sponges. Easy, right? Not so fast. . . . . I can't find pink mesh sponges anywhere. These things should be easy, right? They're just like these. . .

I've been to every discount and dollar store in the area and can't find them in pink. I found two in our grocery store of all places, but I still need six. Friends were telling me about several other discount stores that are not too far from here where I could maybe find them. I'll be going there. Plus my mom is on the look-out in Texas. I've seen some online, but I'm not willing to pay $4 on each. Is that super stingy of me? I mean, I want these from like a dollar store, not Sephora (which are the ones I keep coming across). I went looking at a body shop in a mall this weekend and each one was $6.99. No thanks. I didn't even stay to look for the right color.
If I'd have known that this was going to be a hassle, we would have picked another color. She could have been a white poodle. We have everything in pink now, though. Isn't it always the case that when you're looking for one specific thing, you can't find that? I bet you after I don't need them anymore, I'll be seeing these things everywhere I look. -sigh-

feeling: it doesn't feel like Monday to me
listening to: John Mayer (Free Falling)

the homeless kids

Last week I was running around like crazy. I had a laundry basket under one arm, I was carrying something in my other hand and I walked by an open window making a mental list of things I needed to do that day. I glanced out the window and one of my neighbors was outside on a lawnchair reading a newspaper. I did a double-take wondering, "how does she do that?". She has three kids (whom I've dubbed "the homeless kids"). I wonder how someone with three kids doesn't have a mountain of laundry or end of year school projects to work on or lunch to cook or dishes to wash or floors to clean, etc. etc. You get the point. I put the clothes in the washing machine, walked back and noticed that she was no longer reading the newspaper. . . she was sun bathing! In the middle of the morning. On a freaking Thursday. WTF? I want to do that too. Am I just managing my time poorly?
So let me tell you about the kids. There's two boys one looks like he's older than Brianna, one younger and a little girl that looks like she's about Alec's age. I call them the homeless kids because when they first moved in, I swear I thought those kids had no home. They are outside all day. I first noticed them at the bus stop. Brianna is way too cool to have me walk her to the bus stop now. It's just behind my house, though, so I watch her from my window. This little girl was always the first one out there by herself (I've been asked for an update on her, so watch out for that) then when the homeless kids moved in, they were out there really, really early too, playing football. I noticed them because they were outside playing sooooooo early in the morning. This is before 7:00 am. They'd play football on the sidewalk and street where the bus stops. Of course they wouldn't catch the ball each time, so they'd go onto my back neighbor's yard. The ball would sometimes hit the walls of that house. One day I saw the homeless kids' dad walk out to leave for work when the kids were playing in that yard. I thought "Ooh, they're going to get it now from dad". He waved at them as he drove off and said nothing. Nothing. I'd be really upset if I saw my kids playing on someone else's yard, hitting their walls especially at a time when they're possibly still asleep. I'd say something immediately.
So this has gone on. On weekends when I open the blinds the kids are already out there playing. On afternoons when Brianna gets home from school, we talk about her day, she'll have a snack and do her homework. Those kids are outside. They're dropped off by the same bus only they don't go inside their home. If they do, it's just to dump their backpacks. I wonder when they eat or do homework. Plus their mom is at home. She doesn't work. I can understand kids playing outside all day maybe in the summer, but all the time? This Sunday we were leaving to the store and the homeless kids were out riding their bikes while wearing pajamas and no shoes. I play around and say that the mom sets an alarm early in the morning just to kick them out. They roam around the neighborhood. I walked out once to bring in a garbage can and was startled by them. They were playing like they were shooting each other and one was hiding in my front yard.
I wonder if that mom worries at all about where her kids are. It must be nice to just kick them out and have the house to herself all the time. Maybe that's why she's so carefree sunbathing. I'm always worried about where my kids are, what they're doing, how their day was, if they're hungry, checking homework, making sure they're clean, etc. I must be doing something wrong.

Brianna's pigpen

You know where I've been? Here. Cleaning.

Ugh, because Rodrigo and I are constantly on drugs, we decided it would be a good idea to have a yard sale. Well, it was actually my fault. I was trying to convince Brianna to get rid of a lot of junk, er, things and I blurted out "You could have a yard sale and whatever you sell will be money for you". Still, Rodrigo didn't stop me and is going along so it's his fault too.
I've never had a yard sale, have never had any desire to have one either, but it seems that we really give away a lot of good clothes simply because the kids have outgrown them. Plus, we have some old bedroom furniture and other things we need to get rid of, so we thought it would be a good idea. Getting things ready has been a nightmare, though.
I've tried and tried and tried and tried to get Brianna to let go of some things. She saves EVERYTHING. Everything. I knew that if I went into her room and did cleaned it myself, I'd get rid of some things she'd probably want. I warned and warned and warned to no avail.
Saturday we went to Phoenix and spent a lot of time at IKEA. Oh, you cannot imagine how inspired I was with all the choices for home organization. I've been on a "everything has a place and everything in it's place" mode for a while now, so Brianna's messy room was driving me batty.
Sunday she went to a friend's party. As soon as she left, I went straight into her room. I had planned to be done by the time she got back but it became a longer task that I had imagined. Oh. My. God. I could not believe the kind of thing this kid was saving. Think empty plastic Easter eggs, empty party favor bags, homework from years ago, notes, every plastic necklace imaginable, toys she hasn't played with in years, gift tags, pencils, etc. Armed with a new organizer and bins, I tackled that room. It two days and several hours but that room is Or-Ga-Nized. Closet, drawers and all. She owes me big.
Now I just need Alec's room (which really isn't that bad) and the toy boxes in the garage. -groan- All I'm saying is we better make some money on this yard sale thing and make all this worth it.

feeling: what did I get into
listening to: Travis (Sing)

F*CK!!!!!!

Yeah, that's right. That's what I feel like yelling recently. Let me tell you why.

- Alec's tooth: He went to the dentist last week and was referred to a specialist because he has a pretty big cavity. He got scheduled for a pulpotomy and crown for late next month. I received a call yesterday from the dentist's office telling me that someone had cancelled and they could take Alec today. Of course I wanted to get it over with, so I said yes. Someone from the anesthesiologist's office called me later to give me the procedures as far as meals and such. They told me what he could and couldn't eat, drink and wear. We hung up. A few minutes later they called back saying that she'd forgotten to tell me I also had to take $750. WTF? Just like that she said it all casual-like. I told her I had already paid for half our cost at the dentist's office and she informed me that was just for the doctor. This was for the anesthesia. All in all I'd have to pay $954 for a baby tooth. Today. That's just what isn't covered by the insurance. I had to cancel for today and told them I'd call back. It just didn't seem right. I left with Alec to a pre-k picnic, practically got heat stroke then came back and started with the calls.
It turns out the insurance does cover for kids under seven but that particular dentist "doesn't bill to insurance". Again, WTF? I had to reschedule with another specialist but we only get two dentist visits each per year. That was two. This next one isn't covered, but the procedure will be.

- Badger: He got neutered on Friday. Friday afternoon he was sort of out of it. Saturday morning, the stitches started bleeding. Oh wait, I already wrote about that. So anyway, we have to keep him from jumping or running. The problem is, well, he's a frisky puppy. We were told we should keep him in his crate (which we did end up buying a short while before, by the way) as much as possible. I feel like a horrible puppy mom. Like I have a child in a cage. I know it's for his own good, but I hate having him in there for so long. We take him out frequently to "do" but each time he's out, he starts getting all crazy and jumping around. Oh, and he has that cone on his head which he hates. Poor thing. He must hate us.

- Me: I feel like I'm running around all the time. I need some "help me focus and give me energy" vitamins. Today I had some unexpected errands and I made a quick stop at the grocery store. I got home, placed the bag that had nothing but eggs in it on the kitchen island. It fell and the eggs broke. Because I am crazy or something, I decided not to waste some of the eggs that could be salvaged and bake a cake. I did. Then I get a call from Brianna at school asking where I was. I was late to pick her up. I thought her club meeting ended at 3:30 today when it really ended at 3:00. F*ck! I usually take about 5 minutes to get to her school but today I took like 30 seconds.

Ahh. . . . I need to take a deep breath.

feeling: overwhelmed
listening to: Alec talking, talking, talking and talking about Star Wars

autumn envy

The teaser that the meteorologist used last night right before commercials was, "Say goodbye to the 90's". Of course Rodrigo and I started being dumb saying that he meant things like "Stop wearing the clothes you wore in high school. Time to stop quoting Seinfeld. Quit listening to Pearl Jam.", but we knew that he meant the weather. Today is supposed to be the last day that we reach 90 degrees. Whew! Yes, I know I always go on and on about how "I leeve in haat weather" (doing an Uli impression). It's time, though. I am sooooooo ready to wear something other than summer clothes. I'd like to wear pants and closed shoes. I'm ready to bake without dreading the heat. Plus, I keep seeing all these cooking shows that talk about "Now that it's cooler . . . .". ARGH! Not here. Here you still want to be drinking liquids all day. Anyway, it seems that we'll be cooling off to the 80's at least by the weekend. Hey, it's something.
Speaking of things that happen elsewhere but not here . . . daylight savings time. We don't do the time change here in Arizona. Nope. So during the summer we're in Pacific time and now we're in Mountain time. Everybody changed and we didn't. It's pretty cool that we don't have to get used to time changes, but . . . . our t.v. viewing schedules change. Only the local channels stay the same. The other channels we watch (Bravo, Food Network, Noggin, Disney Channel) all change so if we usually watched something at 9:00 pm, now it's on at 10:00 pm. Suck! I'm looking forward to Project Runway which won't be airing here until 11:00 pm. Blah, blah, blah . . .

feeling: whiny
listening to: Shivaree (Goodnight Moon)

i hate people

Have I ever told you that I hate people? Well, I do. I could go for a while without hating someone, then one jerk has to come along and remind me that I hate everyone. There is now a lady whose name I just found out, who I had never spoken to before other than "good morning" that is making me furious right now. She feels that since I don't work, since I have a daughter and since "I drive by all the time and I always see your car here" that I should watch her child. She came over to my house and I thought she was here to sell me something. I recognized her from the kids' bus stop but we had never had a conversation before.
She started telling me that she worked a lot, she can't find anywhere else to leave her kid and that she's been driving by to see if I'm here and I am. Therefore she was going to drop off her daughter here at 6:00 am then the kid goes to school. After school she would be here until 8:00 pm.
Uh. . . . . I was shocked at how she was sort of telling me and not asking me. I told her that I couldn't and she made a face like I had just kicked her dog. She sort of scoffed and said "but you don't work". I felt she had a lot of nerve. She doesn't know whether I work or not. I could work from home. She knows NOTHING about us. How could she want to just leave her child here. I mean, she didn't even know my NAME until that same day. She then gave me that "I drive by all the time . . ." sentence and I was getting really mad. Because I'm an idiot, I went on to say things like "Yeah, I've been home lately, but my kids are in sports and cheer leading and once that starts up again . . . . ." She interrupted me by saying that I could take her daughter too. I told her that I actually do the cheer coaching and I couldn't watch her. She said that her daughter could play with the girls. I couldn't believe I was having to give explanations. Now I think of about a million things I should've said but at that moment, I was saying things like "uh, duh, uh . . . ." There's no real reason why I don't want to watch her kid. I just think I felt like she was pushing her on me and was making me feel obligated somehow. I'm just not keen on the idea of having to look after somebody else's kid. I mean, if I wanted to watch more, I'd have another one. Either that or place an ad saying that I'd do it. I've never even offered to anyone. ANYONE! By 8:00 pm I've already helped my own children with homework, fed them dinner, gone wherever we need to go, bathed them, talked to them. I mean, we have a sort of routine that I like having. The whole family dynamic would change.
Anyway, I kept telling that lady that I couldn't do it. All she kept saying was that of course she would pay me and to think about it. I still said no. She said that it would be good for the girls to play together. Still no. She left and said "Just think about it for a day and I'll come by tomorrow". That was last week. I haven't seen her since. The thing is that now, she's not even watching her own kid at the bus stop. She always had before. Now she just has her daughter go to me. This morning I was shocked and furious when we opened the door to walk out of our house and the little girl was there. She said hi and started walking behind us to wait for the bus. I don't even know where this person lives or else I'd have gone and told her that I am not responsible for her child. WTF! Why does this kind of crap always happen to me?!?!?! I was talking to Alec's teacher about this last Thursday. (because like the idiot that I am, I was asking around to see if there were openings in the kid care there) Anyway, the teacher told me that I have a kind face and so people tend to try to take advantage. I was a little surprised because I had been told the same thing before not too long ago. I think I'm going to walk around snarling all the time now.
I did a search for "I'll watch your kid ads" in this area and there's like a million. Why the heck does she want ME then? Anyway, this Saturday night, I dreamed that she had brought her daughter over with a whole bunch of luggage and was forcing her to stay here. I was thinking about how careless this lady is. I mean, like I said, she knows nothing about us. What if we were some sorts of perverts or criminals? She has no idea who lives here. What if someone in my family was sick and needed care? What if I came and blogged everything she told me :P
Ok, so here is where I'm judgemental. She said that both she and her husband work very long hours. Twelve hour shifts and longer. Fine, but I can't help but wonder about her priorities. I mean, she came in a super luxury car. The kind that someone like me who knows nothing about cars still knows that these are super expensive "rich people" cars. So where are her priorities? I mean, drive whatever you want and work as much as you need to afford your lifestyle, but don't make other people care for your responsibilities. How could she just want to dump her child off on someone who she just met? -I step off my soapbox-

feeling: still frustrated
listening to: Audioslave (Like a Stone)

i'm me, really

Fixing the whole credit thing has been harder than I thought. I'm seriously considering just getting married already only to change my name. Let me explain . . .

A few years ago, I started working at Chase bank. I didn't have an account there when I started but since I was always there anyway, I thought I'd just get one. I did. When my co-worker was opening the account for me, of course he needed my ss#. I gave to him and he asked me to repeat it. I did. He asked if I was sure and he then told me that there were other accounts with my same number but a different name. I was shocked, mad . . .everything. Like I've said before, I had messed up my credit pretty badly in college but had since done a lot to repair it only to have someone else be using it. We were somehow able to open my account (really only because I worked there. If I'd been just a customer, they wouldn't have done it). I was lucky that I was working there, otherwise I would've just been told that they were not able to open my account but not told why. Working there, we were able to look up our own accounts as much as we wanted. We were only not allowed to make our own transactions. So, I looked up my ss# and found that the person had a mortgage, and a few more accounts with my credit. I was livid! I disputed it and that part has since been fixed. The catch was that I couldn't use company information. So, I couldn't say that I'd found it by monitoring my own account at work. I had to go through the credit check steps and all that.

Now . . . . . I recently checked my credit to make sure everything was ok. I check it around my birthday so that I won't forget (sidenote: if you don't know, you are entitled to a free credit report per year. You can go to annualcreditreport(dot)com for info) Anyway, everything seemed good except for two accounts that I didn't recognize. From the dates they were opened, I would've been 11 years old when I got those. It turns out that they're my mom's. Well, my dad's actually. He has some accounts on which my mom is an authorized user. He added her by name ( not ss#) and since I've had their same address before and my first name is the same, I'm screwed. I disputed those and was assured that it would be taken care of. Now I've been informed that isn't the case. In essence, I have to prove that I am me. I have to prove that I have a different name than my mom (middle initial) that I live in Arizona instead of Texas and that I am 31 instead of 51. Also, to find this out took HOURS of phone calls. I hate having to do all this. HATE it. Oh, also my credit score is going to lower after this because once my mom's accounts are removed, I'll have no credit card debt. That's right. Apparently you have to be paying on something to show you're not a bum. That sucks because I was trying to get my score as close to 830 as I possibly could so that we could refinance the house in a year. Now I'll probably have to open up a credit card. Suck. Now I'm going to have to search around for a super low interest card. Suggestions?
So, a word of advice . . . .first of all, be extremely careful with your social security number. I never did figure out how someone got a hold of it. Also, I've said this about a million times to lots of people, but it's best to not name your children your same name. I know some people love their spouse soooooo much that they want their child named after them but it is such a hassle. It sucked growing up and having our mail mixed up when we lived in the same home. It sucked when my brother filled in a change of address form and my dad's mail was all going to my brother's apartment. It sucked getting business type of phone calls that my mom thought were for her. (Especially when I was getting late payment calls in college) All of this was such an inconvenience that I still keep asking them why they named me this way. Also since I'm such a spinster, I still have the name last name. Ok, well time for more phone calls now . . . . -sigh-

feeling: aggravated
listening to: The Shins (New Slang)

on the phone

You know where I've been these past few days? Here. On the phone. It seems that I've had a lot of things to take care of and the only way it can be done is by calling places. Then I'm left on hold for 75 hours straight. I wish I could say that I've been chit chatting and catching up with friends, but that it not the case.

- We have a package cable/internet/phone service. It's a good deal because it's less expensive that way. On the sucky side, it's always going down. That means all three things stop working at once. I have to call them on my cell phone and wait for them to tell me "It's not like we do it on purpose". Also, the service could be out for HOURS every day but as long as it is not in 24 consecutive hours, no credits are given. Nice.

- I haven't written about this, but I had credit issues for a LONG while. I did sooooo much to get good credit after ruining it in college only to have someone use my ss#. Somebody had used it to get a mortgage, some credit cards and a car loan. Unfortunately for that person, it was financed through the bank that I worked for. Duh! It took a while to get that all sorted. Everything is off my credit report now and instead I have a couple of my mom's accounts. The reason . . . we have the same name. I find it ridiculous first of all because I would've opened those accounts as a kid and secondly because they didn't ask for a ss#. I was on the phone with department store credit offices explaining that I am not my mom. I think it is all taken care of now. My credit score is now considered "EXCELLENT" but I know it'll be higher once this clears.

- When we got our alarm system, we were offered some really good promos and now they're not going into effect. We were offered three free months and a low fee and are now being charged (at one month) with a higher fee than we were quoted. We called. The salesman that made us this offer is no longer there so they keep passing the buck to see what they can do. We keep getting promised a return call but so far we've called about a million times and they've called us back zero times.

- The exterminators . . . ugh, this is a long story and deserves a post of it's own.

For now, I have to make a few more calls. At least these are more pleasant (school, dentist and such). -sigh- Am I the only one that hates being on the phone so much?

feeling: loving this rainy weather
listening to: some Noggin song "Beside the seaside"

back to school

Brianna went back to school today. She's now a 3rd grader and I am officially uncool. Last year we lived walking distance from her school. This year, she'll be riding the bus. I supposed technically, it's still walking distance, but come on, I live in Arizona. It would mean we'd practically get heat stroke by the time we get to school.
Anyway, I decided that I would take her today. I'd walk her to class and all that good stuff. We get there and there is not a single parking space anywhere near the school. Cars were parked for BLOCKS! I felt like parking at our old rental house and just walking from there. I was driving around thinking surely somebody must be leaving soon but people were busy video taping their kids getting out of the car. Uh-huh, PEOPLE WERE TAPING THEIR KIDS GETTING OUT OF THE CAR. And these weren't little kindergarten age kids like this is their first day of school ever. No, these were kids right about Brianna's age who were at this same school last year. I thought I was seeing wrong or maybe there was just one set of parents like this then I saw about five more video cameras. These parents were just smiling and filming their kids walking. Walking. Those poor kids looked so embarrassed.
Ok, so maybe I'm a bad mom. I only take pictures on the first day. I didn't film Brianna's first steps ever as a third grader. Next year I'm going to out-do all these people and have a freakin' press conference at the school. Paparazzi and helicopters flying over.
Tomorrow is the first day for the pre-k class Alec is in. There I can understand video cameras. I'll be the mom that'll only let go of her kid to take pictures in between sobs. I'll let you all know how that goes.

feeling: bored with my hair
listening to: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Face Down)

rubbish bin yvett

My kids were born with a sort of defect that prevents them from placing trash in a trashcan. Instead, they hand it to me. Come to think of it, I think Rodrigo has that same condition. I don't know what is wrong with them, but they all just hand me their trash. I mean we could be out somewhere where there is no trashcan in sight or they could be closer to one than I am and they'll still just give it to me instead. I'm trying to remember if I did the same thing with my mom. I really don't think I did. Of course I realize it's my fault. I take it. If I would just tell them to not give it to me and tell them where they could place it, they'd do it.
Brianna doesn't do it anymore. Let me tell you how . . . . The last time that we went to the movies, she was sitting with some popcorn and a drink. I didn't want any myself, but once I was sitting next to her, the popcorn smelled good. I told her so. She then handed me what I thought was a single popcorn and I put it in my mouth. It was her straw's wrapper. I then did the whole sticking out my tongue, closing my eyes and a sort of "bleh, bleh". She looked like she felt bad and I secretly felt good that she felt guilty. Heh, heh (insert cackling here). I just noticed that she hasn't handed me her trash since. If I would've known that all I had to do was place the trash they hand me in my mouth, I would've done it a long time ago.

feeling: super happy
listening to: Muse (Supermassive Black Hole)

se habla telemarketing

Here is what you need to know.

- We are on the "Do Not Call" list. Still. In this phone number. It hasn't expired. I have the printout right here.
- My last name is in Spanish
- Rodrigo's last name is also in Spanish

So, we've been getting a whole lot of telemarketing calls in Spanish. Lots and lots of calls. I looked up some information and as it turns out people with Spanish surnames are targeted by these telemarketing companies. This is sooooo wrong. I mean, not everyone with a last name in Spanish actually speaks Spanish. Anyway, I answer the phone in English and get asked if I spoke Spanish. I've lied several times and say no. They apologize and hang up. This didn't stop the calls, though. So now I've received calls that are a recording telling me we won a prize and to claim it press "1". I didn't do anything and the call just disconnected. I tried to dial the number and it's just a rapid busy signal. Anyway, I googled it up and found pages and pages of complaints. People are being harassed by these people. I finally found out the name of the company and the real phone number and I called. I was speaking Spanish telling them that they called my house way too many times and wondering why they were calling in the first place. They tried to sell me a vacation package. Again I explained that I wanted the calls to stop and I was transferred. The manager woman again tried to sell me a vacation package. I asked again to not be called and explained that I was on the do not call list. Then she had the audacity to tell me that the do not call list was not valid if I requested it in Spanish. WTF? I mean, que f*ck? What was she talking about? The do not call request was made online. I them started speaking English and told her that what she had just said was not true and that they needed to stop calling. Anyway, she transferred me to someone else because she didn't speak English. What is going on? Is this really going on? Are they ignoring do not call requests for people whose last names are not in English? Does this sort of thing happen in other languages? This is so wrong. Anyway, after that I haven't had any of these calls. I wonder if it was the same company making ALL those calls or if they're different companies in cahoots somehow. Hmm.

Someday soon I'll use this blog to post about something other than complaining and whining. Don't leave in a bad mood. Here, I'll make you feel better . . . kittens and rainbows and ice cream and birthday parties and Brandon Boyd. Ah, much better.

feeling: I love coffee
listening to: Tiger Army (Forever Fades Away)

pictures and computer woes

I finally have the Spring Break pictures organized. You can see them here.

It was such an ordeal uploading and organizing them because I've been having computer trouble. I'm lucky to enough to say that I don't have computer problem often, but when it does happen, well, you've been through it too. It sucks. Luckily, I have a computer guy living in the same house as me. I know that anything that breaks down will be fixed by him. He LOVES doing that kind of thing which is both good and bad. Bad because he'll take the opportunity to change a whole bunch of things and that takes longer. I now have a new harddrive, a new dvd drive and a new operating system (Don't quote me on those things. I'm just typing what I think I remember him saying).
It's pretty sad to realize how much you rely on your computer when you can't use it. Also, I had about a MILLION things I wanted to blog about and I couldn't. Yes, I actually had material and like a huge dork I wrote down a list. You'd think that I'd use one of our other computers (Rodrigo's computer, his laptop, his mac) but the truth is that I don't know how to use it. He had linux in everything else and I don't even know how to get online. Sad. Sad. Anyway, I have several emails I want to write, prints I want to order from Kodak before the sale is over, and I also want to catch up on all my bloggy friends. By the way, if you are one of my messenger contacts and you've seen me signing in and out for days, sorry. I had no control over that.

feeling: happy
listening to: some pretty funny "Sanjaya" song on the radio. Wow, people don't waste time making up these things.

downer post

I like to keep things light on my page and if that's what you're looking for today, click out. Yesterday was such a weird day here in my city. You see, Rodeo is apparently a huge deal here. The kids got two days off of school for Rodeo and there is a big parade. At that parade yesterday, a five year old little girl was thrown off a horse and trampled to death. When I first read the news, I was shocked! I could believe or understand how something like that could happen. Immediately, I was furious at the parents. I mean, how could they allow their FIVE year old daughter to ride a horse in a parade by herself. Was it just really, really bad judgement? Now I feel horrible for them. I think they made a very stupid mistake and can't even begin to imagine how they feel now. As you can imagine, this has been all over the news here. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Besides the fact that this is such a horrible thing to have happened, there were a lot of families there just watching the parade. I mean, kids were watching this happen there in front of them. As you can imagine, the parade organizers were being questioned over and over. It turns out that the rules state that you have to be a certain age to ride alone. The family or the group that the little girl was in broke the rules. You know, this story is tragic for just so many reasons.
Yesterday I also found out that a school that Brianna had attended in Texas is also under scrutiny. Apparently one or two 10 or 11 year olds sexually asaulted a boy in kindergarten and are all still in school. It seems that it didn't happen on school grounds or something. When I read it, all I could think was "It was only a matter of time". I HATED this school. I wrote a post about it once. When I thought about this school yesterday and all the stuff that went on there, I feel so grateful that it isn't that time anymore. You can't imagine how frustrated I was during that time. Again, I have to agree that my then co-workers got to hear me whining about it sooooo much. They helped me so much in support and school recommendations. The people that work at that school are so imcompitent I get mad just remembering.
-sigh- Now that I brought you guys down, uh, have a good day. I'll post later or tomorrow with our Oscar predictions. I don't have Rodrigo's picks yet, so I can't post that yet. I love this little bloggy of mine. I feel better "talking" about crap things once in a while. Thanks for putting up.

feeling: better
listening to: Silversun Pickups (Lazy Eye)

frustration!

Ok, I don't like griping about Blogger mainly because it's free. I'm not paying for this service, haven't paid for it for the three years I've used it and am not really interested in using a blog service with a monthly fee. Still sometimes I'm really tempted. My comments were down for THREE DAYS. Not one day, not two days, but three days. I couldn't even access my own comments other than by email. I was REALLY frustrated. If you tried to comment or view comments, you got this message



ARGH! Also, if I tried to comment on anyone else's page, it took three or four tries for the comments to actually take. Here's the thing. I like things that work. I like to leave something and know that it will work without me having to be monitoring. I guess everyone does, right? Not until tonight was I able to look into the problem and try to find some sort of solution. It was pretty evident that it wasn't going to get fixed on its own anytime soon. I looked into what other people were doing and the best thing I'd found was to change the address on the "we're sorry" error page by adding a number two right after the "www". Eh, too much of a hassle to ask you all to do. Then I was adviced to clear my cache and it seems to be working now. Whew!We'll see if this is up for good now. Comment away while you can.

feeling: relieved
listening to: Rodrigo talking about Law & Order (next to me) --->

afterschool peeves

There are a few things that I've noticed when I go get Brianna from school that really bother me. I know this is going to sound like whining and complaining and I guess that's exactly what it is. . . .

- There is a couple that I have grown to hate. I know that seems harsh but I really cannot stand them. They always do something that gets me mad. This couple is a set of really irresponsible parents. They walk to and from school every afternoon. The mom was pregnant up until December. I remember seeing her thinking she must be ready to have the baby then after a weekend she was back with a stroller. They walked to school with the newborn baby. Now, I realize that Arizona in the winter is warmer than other places, but it isn't exactly warm enough to be taking a newborn for a walk. A couple of weeks ago, they took the baby without a single blanket. Fully uncovered. I don't know what they think. I mean, they're both wearing jackets. Then this last week I was FURIOUS at them. They got to the school, parked the stroller moved away a few feet and started making out like they were teenagers! Meanwhile, the baby started crying and those two wouldn't stop. The baby was crying ans screaming for several minutes. I was this close to going over and coaxing that baby myself. I don't understand why they both have to go to school. Why can't one of them stay at home with the baby? I don't think either one of them even works. They are both there in the morning and in the afternoon. Why don't they take care of her? Ugh, just thinking about them is getting me mad.

- Another thing that really bothers me are those Heelys (tennis shoes/skates) that all the kids are now wearing. I can't wait until schools prohibit those. At stores, it's been several times that I get bumped or almost bumped into by kids wearing these. I think it is inappropriate to wear them inside a store and especially at school. As soon as the bell rings and the kids cross the fence, they put their toe up and start rolling. This past week, a kid wearing a backpack did just that, fell back and landed right on his back. I see no problem with kids wearing these at parks or amusement parks. I think they'd be ideal at some place like Disneyland but at school? Come on. I sound like a grumpy old lady here, huh?

- Kids with cell phones. Ugh. Let me remind you that Brianna is in ELEMENTARY school. Yet, after school many kids walk out and start using their phone. WTF? Who do they have to talk to? Their mom is right there. I think I'd understand with the kids whose parents are at work and the parents want to know the kids are out of school or home. The ones I do see, though are either walking right next to their moms or just talking to one of the other kids they were just walking with. The oldest kids in this school are either 10 or 11 years old. Do kids this young really need a cell phone?

Ok, enough ranting for the day. . .

feeling: like a bitter old lady
listening to: RHCP (Snow, Hey Oh)

bah, humbug

This is an email that I received when I ordered a gift online. . . .

Dear Yvett,

Thank you for ordering with us- we appreciate your business. Your order number appears in the subject line of this email. Since we process your order as quickly as possible, we are unable to modify or cancel your order once it is received in our system.

You'll receive a second email from us when your order has shipped and a final email when it arrives at its destination. For your records, we've included a description of your order below. If you would like to track your order, just click (our link) and enter your email address and password. You may also track your order by calling Customer Service at 1-888-blah.

What they really should have written should have been closer to this. . . .

Dear Sucker,

Thank you for ordering with us- you're just another drop in the bucket. Your order number appears in the subject line of this email but if you try to look for it now or anytime in the next few days, it'll be of no use at all. Since you are too lazy to actually go out and shop and thought this would be more convenient, we hope you understand that there a thousands of other people just like you. Only they shopped sooner. We also process your order we are good and ready, so don't bother trying to modify or cancel your order.
You'll receive a second email from us and then a third and then a fourth when your order has shipped and a final email when it arrives at its destination. We thank you for those extra eight dollars you paid for Two Day service but hope you realize that those two days are after we have processed your order. Again, we process it when we are good and ready. For your records, we've included a description of your order below. If you would like to track your order, just click (our link) and enter your email address and password. After that you will receive a message stating that your order is "being processed". No shipping date or arrival date will be on there for at least a week. In other words, that service is purely for decoration. You may also try to track your order by calling Customer Service at 1-888-blah. Any customer service agent who takes your call (assuming you actually get through to a real person) will also have no idea when you will receive your package. Next year, don't wait until December to shop. Remember, Two Day service, to us, is just a suggestion.

feeling: frustrated
listening to: nothing! I'm home alone! Ah, silence . .

PTA moms hate my name

That's right. PTA moms hate my name. Last year the president of the PTA started off calling me Yvett. I know this for sure because I remember the messages she'd leave me. Then at a movie night at school, she started calling me Odette. I thought I'd heard it wrong but I confirmed the next week. She continued calling me Odette for months. I even corrected her once. And . . . I was embarrassed to correct her. She apologized, called me Yvett that day and went back to calling me Odette. My theory is that she was doing it on purpose.

This year. . new state. . new school. The PTA president calls me "girl". Ok, granted, she calls everybody girl and it bothers me soooooo much. She knows names but refuses to say them. Everyday after school, I know when she's there because I hear "Hey girl". That's how she greets everyone. At first I thought she just didn't know my name, but I'm sure now that this isn't the case. Yesterday she called me and asked for Yvett. When I said "This is Yvett", she immediately said "Hey girl!" which absolutely makes me cringe. As much as it bothers me, I know I'm not going to tell her anything. Not this lady. See, she seems sort of gossipy. She's there everyday talking to all the "girls" and very often includes phrases like "let me tell you. . " or "did you hear" all in a sort of gossipy tone. You know what I mean, right? I can totally imagine if I politely asked her to please not call me girl, she'd be on the phone with other moms saying things like "Girl, let me tell you about Brianna's mom. . . " If only she'd call me that. I have no problem being called "Brianna's mom" since that's what all her little friends call me. Also, I know moms like that: "Nicole's mom, Sarah's mom, Riley's mom". I'd much rather be Brianna's mom than girl. -sigh- I should just learn to tolerate it, right? What would you do?

feeling: COLD!
listening to: Pixies (Where is my Mind?)

siempre hay un pelo en la sopa

It's always something. ALWAYS. We took Alec to get portraits taken today. The session went well. The photographer guy was really nice. We received the pictures TODAY already and were overall really pleased. They gave us a proof sheet as well and told us that the pictures were already up and we could access them online. I got home and couldn't wait to share the album with friends and family. I logged on and noticed that a few of our favorite poses, poses that we had purchased were not on there. I read the troubleshooting area and finally called the studio. Since we'd had no problems at all, I KNOW that I was very pleasant and asked her if maybe not all the pictures were showing yet. The girl that answered was not the one that had helped us and she said that only the proofs that were shown to us were the ones that were online. I told her that we'd been shown those but others as well and the others were not on there. "Well", she said, "That's because you ordered one thing then made a change and ordered another thing". Ok, I absolutely hate it when someone in a customer service position tells me that I did something. I hate it when they say you did something instead of asking if you did it. Especially, especially when it is something that I did not do. I know for a fact that we did not make changes in the order. Rodrigo and I took a very long time trying to pick out the package and people went a couple of times to ask us if we needed help. We had a "for sure" stack, a "maybe" stack and a "no" stack. The pictures that are missing were from the for sure stack, so there is just no way that we had made a change on those. Then she said that we were first shown six poses and then someone brought out more. This is also not true. We were given a whole pile all at once and we sorted through them. I mean, come on, we're young parents who just had pictures taken of their child whom they think is just one of the best looking people walking the earth. That equals suckers. Do you really think they weren't going to show us all the poses? She finally said that she would have to rescan the whole session and repost everything over and she'd give me a call once it was completed. She sounded like this was the most difficult task ever. Whatever. I thanked her and we hung up. We'll see.
*I didn't link to the studio because it really was a great they did and I don't want my whining about one employee to make it sound like anything less.

feeling: sleepy
listening to: ahhhh......silence